Fondly, Pennsylvania

Fondly, Pennsylvania

Fondly, Pennsylvania is HSP's main blog. Here you will find posts on our latest projects and newest discoveries, as well articles on interesting bits of local history reflected in our collection. Whether you are doing research or just curious to know more about the behind-the-scenes work that goes on at HSP, please read, explore, and join the conversation!

Does the thought of getting the flu scare you? Maybe not—but it should. Yes, today we have vaccines, antiviral medications, and chicken soup. Even so, CDC statistics show that influenza still kills up to 5,600 people in the United States every year. Imagine, then, what it was like 100 years ago when none of those medical interventions existed.

Polio, as infantile paralysis came to be known in the 20th century, has a significant place in the history of Pennsylvania. The commonwealth was hit hard in the large 1916 polio epidemic that affected the northeastern United States. When Dr. Jonas Salk established a virology laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh in 1947, Pennsylvania soon became a major center of research on the poliovirus that led to the first successful vaccine against the disease in 1955.

In 1793, yellow fever devastated Philadelphia, then the nation’s capital. “To see the hearse go by is now so common that we hardly take notice of it;…we live in the midst of death,” wrote the 22-year-old Isaac Heston shortly before contracting the illness and dying.

In 1794, the New Theatre in Philadelphia premiered Slaves in Algiers; or A Struggle for Freedom, a play written by the author, lyricist, and actor Susanna Haswell Rowson. The pioneering production—deemed radical by critics—dealt with poignant themes relating to gender and liberty, topics that Rowson explored regularly in her novels.

The Masonic Hall met a grim fate on March 9, 1819. A chimney fire spread into the building and eventually engulfed the entire structure. Residents of New Castle, Delaware purportedly saw the flames from 32 miles away. A lithograph from HSP’s archives depicts the harrowing scene.

The most recent issue of Pennslvania Legacies highlighted 1960s protest in the Keystone State. Want to learn more? Check out some recently published books and online resources exploring the turbulent Vietnam era—both in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States.